It’s cool to be a nerd these days.

Outside of Bill Gates, there’s no better illustration of this seeming contradiction than Erk tha Jerk. The Bay’s latest rap sensation - known for his trademark spectacles - has quickly accumulated national buzz, on the strength of a No. 1 radio hit (“Right Here”) and his winning, albeit somewhat unorthodox, persona.

A self-described “hood n*gga” who grew up in Richmond and Oakland, Erk eschews the typical turf rap clichés. His lyrics are swaggerish and soil-savvy, but he doesn’t rhyme about birds, bricks, shootouts or sideshows. His version of nerdhood has nothing to do with the Internet emcee-populated sub-genres of “nerdcore” or “geeksta rap,” either - you won’t find any references to Commodore 64s, pocket protectors or suburban strip malls.

Erk is a nerd because he doesn’t try to be something he’s not. In other words, he’s too smart to go dumb. His aspirations to success, fame and fortune involve hard work and dedication. That realness and work ethic, which Erk calls his “grind," comes across loud and clear on his highly-anticipated debut album, "Nerd’s Eye View."

In addition to rapping, Erk produced six of the album's 13 tracks, with the rest of the album handled by Bedrock, Traxamillion, Su and the Invasion.

"Nerd’s Eye View" will likely be remembered as one of the definitive Bay Area albums of the post-hyphy era. Its pedigree is well-evident: Bedrock and Traxamillion were two of the main architects of the hyphy sound; the album’s label is SMC (who have trafficked rather heavily in Yay Area turf rap); and if that wasn’t enough, Erk’s managed by Stretch, one of the founders of Thizz Records (who also manages Mistah F.A.B.).

But where hyphy reveled in its outlaw status and urged listeners to have epileptic fits of maniacal, frenzied, Ecstasy-enhanced stupidity, Erk takes a calmer, measured approach.

Despite his titular moniker - and his macquereau-ish persuasiveness - he’s not such a jerk that he can’t say he’s sorry. There are numerous references to fatherhood and at one point, he describes how his exit strategy for escaping poverty meant not taking penitentiary chances: “I kept my nose clean, didn’t need to get involved/ So it wouldn’t be a thing for me to leave and get a job.”

"Nerd’s Eye View" overflows with catchy hooks, syrupy R&B choruses, candy-coated keyboards and plenty of trunk-worthy slap, making the songs extremely accessible, if not infectious. It’s easy to see why commercial radio jumped all over Erk, yet the rapper’s earnestness and honesty keeps the formula from wearing thin. The album’s leadoff track, “Summer,” may just be the best rap song ever recorded about staying in the house and working on music in a bedroom studio while dreaming of eventual stardom.

In Erk’s hands, it becomes a slow-building testimonial to self-determination, delivered with near-Tupacian intensity: “Just me and my humble self/ Me and all these great songs/f**k am I supposed to do/With all this napalm?/N*iggas doin’ weak shit/ All I do is stay strong.”

On “How Do You Love Me,” he agonizingly recounts a failed relationship with his baby mama, then tries to explain things to his daughter, poignantly promising, “When you’re old enough to understand, play this song.” That makes an interesting segue to “Right Here,” whose irresistible, somewhat risqué chorus announces, “girl, I just wanna f**k you right here.” In addition to listing all the places he wants to get busy - in the club, on the bar, in the car, in the parking lot, in the bathroom, at the movies, at her parents’ house, etc. - Erk pulls off an interesting juxtaposition of romanticism and pandering.

He praises the object of his affections’ beauty, yet also calls her “a real b**tch” - intending it as a compliment, not an insult. But unless you’re celibate, abstinent or sexually-repressed, it’s pretty much impossible to hate on this song. Let’s face it, we all want hot monkey sex, and who among us hasn’t fantasized about doing it in public places? >Much of the album is devoted to examining Erk’s outlook on life, which apparently involves copious amounts of marijuana, sex and overcoming adversity - frequently, all at the same time.

Among the highlights are “Favorite Song,” which starts out as a typical “kick back and smoke weed”-type joint, before elevating to a higher level with a jaw-dropping spoken word cameo by Prentice Powell; “Addiction,” which features a clever interpolation of “Love Hangover”’s pounding bassline; and the flirty “Hands Up,” featuring Netta B., which rolls along on an insistent, velvet-coated groove. In the course of getting his smoke on and his f**k on, though, Erk comes up with stack after stack of memorable lines (which is really what rap is supposed to be about - things that make you go, “hmmm”).

Even more impressive than his braggadocio, though, is his vulnerability - which usually comes through in autobiographical reminiscences. On “Reach the Top,” he drops a pearl: “I am straight from the bottom /The struggle is not a problem/ New Jordans I never got em/ My momma couldn’t afford em.”

Similarly, on “Nobody’s Promised Tomorrow,” he raps: “When I couldn’t pay the rent/ None of y’all was with me/ I’m trying to be a father/ So when I don’t answer my phone I’m at home/ Spending time with my daughters/ Of course n*ggas could hate, but why bother?”

 Another 1,000+ words could easily be written on why those bars, and particularly that last couplet, are so amazing. Erk goes on to describe how he navigates his environment with caution, how his brother is trapped in a cycle of incarceration and recidivism, and how he puts the name of his good friend who passed into his raps. This is conscious rap without the quotation marks, the kind that delivers a ghetto-level view, yet wisely seeks to avoid becoming a ghetto statistic.

There’s plenty of “streets is watching”-derived sensibilities throughout Nerd’s Eye View, and honestly, it’s hard to think of a Bay Area rapper with an iller flow than Erk at the moment. In fact, the closest comparison at this point might be early-period Jay-Z - if Jay didn’t rap about the dope game, was a bit less ostentatious, and wasn’t from Brooklyn, but Richmond.

So, how does "Nerd’s Eye View"  stack up in the pantheon of Bay Area hip-hop? Quite well actually. Not only is it the best debut album since Mistah F.A.B.’s "Son of a Pimp," but it might just change perceptions of Bay Area rappers: namely, that they can’t make hit songs. Once again, it seems, nerds win in the end.

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